Savings in my name stopping Universal Credit despite low income

[slowingdown1]

can anyone more financially savvy than me help?
Recently divorced, ex DH pays minimum child maintenance. Have a low
income due to home working in low demand role so I can care
for 2 x disabled children. Yearly
salary is £31k before tax, I save £100 monthly into pension. I claim Scottish disability payments for both kids which go on private treatment / therapies. Each month I scrap by and have a constant low credit card debt despite my best efforts. I have savings that were gifted to me by my mum as long-term financial security of £80k. Although the money is legally in my name, I have made a firm promise to her that I will not use it, so morally I do not feel able to touch it until she is no longer with us.
My current income is low, but because these savings are in my name, they are preventing me from applying for Universal Credit as above
the threshold.
I understand I can’t eg transfer the savings into trusts for my kids as this would constitute deprivation of capital. I can’t ask my mum to eg take it back for the same reason.

How on earth has this turned into a discussion about what qualifies as a disability?!!
For goodness sake.
Read the OP's OP.
She was seeking information as to how she could claim UC while she has her mother's £80k.
It's got nothing to do with children's disabilities.
It's how she and her brother tried to hide their mother's savings and it's become a problem they can't solve.
The children mentioned are just being used to hide the question that was being asked.

Two issues here that OP is confusing. Firstly the lump sum came from family member with strings but because it was transferred straight to OP it’s treated as a outright gift to OP. It might have been assumed it would be used towards the kids future care (not a bad assumption to make especially by the older generation who have limited knowledge of the benefit system). There is then the added legal problem that because the person who gifted the money had been diagnosed with dementia so the LA if assess her for care needs could treat it attempt to hide assets by gifting money to family and bob asking OP not to spend until she’s dead it looks like she’s asking OP to hold her money for her. Issue 2 OP asked cab if by spending lump sum it would be classed as depreciation of assets, for whatever reason they have given wrong advice. If OP wants to spend lump sum on wet room, living expenses and paying off debt she can as it’s her money now. The UC claim just is stupid at this point as the answer is any capital above 16k not entitled to claim.

It hasn't turned into a different discussion, there has been a tangent within the same discussion. That's very common in MN. In OP's case the discussion has arisen because people need to understand the costs in caring for disabled children (myself included).
You should read the OP's posts and tell us how you have concluded OP and her brother are trying to hide their Mother's savings.

It depends. Many will receive DLA until 16. Some have awards that increase as they get older because being able to self manage some aspects doesn’t mean needs overall decrease. For a not insignificant number, care needs actually increase when DC hit teens. Where awards are made the medical guidance for DLA DMs has the starting point of awarding until 16 with those who receive HRC for night needs having 2 year award. But this is only the starting point. Some who are awarded will receive shorter awards and some longer.

The LA won’t give a rat’s arse what OP’s mum may or may not have said. If the OP’s mum follows the usual route for people with dementia (which is usually of care home required c. 3-5 years post diagnosis), The LA financial assessor will scrutinise the OP’s Mum’s assets/banks/investments and go back as many years as they wish. Most care home residents are dementia residents. A large transfer of £80k following a dementia diagnosis is a clear cut deprivation of assets. You can’t give away large sums when your likelihood of needing care is high. Dementia is right up there as most likely disease causing someone to end up in a care home. I’ve been through many of these assessments. There’s no ifs. No buts.

Exactly - my father in law at 86 would love to give us money to buy a house, his intentions are good but we can’t take it -because it would leave him with no ready cash apart from his house . What his intentions were isn’t going to fly with assessment officers and an 86 year old

Same. I have several relatives in care homes, who would dearly LOVE to have the privilege of gifting to their grandchildren. They are not allowed to. The financial assessment process does not make any exceptions.

This thread has made me depressed after spending the morning calculating when our family will be able to climb out of debt despite all the taxes we pay. I'm just constantly astounded at the kinds of assets people will claim "don't count" for whatever reason.

I know all this!
I am not in the camp that believes OP’s mother intended to deceive.
I know the outcome is the same, but people are being quite cruel IMO.

Depending on the value of his house though, gifting cash might not be seen as deprivation of assets. The house is a major asset and he doesn’t necessarily need to have ‘ready cash’

Exactly - the mum wants it used for the grandchildrens care and therapies.

Use it for the physio now then when you are living in credit cards, mum would surely agree with that.

It will be because if he opts for a live in carer at home, or several care visits a day (both of which can be in the £40k-£80k per year range) he will need cash to pay. The house is exempt from being included in the financial assessment if you have your care provided at your own home. You can’t deprive yourself of the means to pay your own care.

Your initial title said "savings in my name" which is an unusual way to describe 80k in your account. Unless you're saving it for/it belongs to someone else.

Maybe the CAB misunderstanding is that if you do spend this money then it would still be counted as your mother's asset if she was found to be depriving herself of assets. If you told the CAB person all the details of how the money came to be in your account, perhaps that's what he was trying to explain.

You should read the OP's posts and tell us how you have concluded OP and her brother are trying to hide their Mother's savings

I think posters are reading what's written between the lines. It could be absolutely not true, but unfortunately it's what it's going to look like.

It’s not deprivation of assets though; it would just be limiting his options if that’s the case.

Giving away money that would impact your ability to fund care is 100% a deprivation of assets.

Home care is the most common form of care, and subject to a financial assessment, same as residential care and subject to the same deprivation of assets rules.

Home care is the most common form of care, and subject to a financial assessment, same as residential care and subject to the same deprivation of assets rules

Been through this with mil. She had care at home and got through her 50k savings in a very short time. Even when the money had gone she didn't get enough funding for adequate care so the whole family had to chip in a significant amount. Sadly she passed away recently, otherwise I don't know what we would have done. Some of us were less able to contribute than others although managed to keep it equal for the time required. Her care needs were such that she really needed to be in a care home but she didn't want that so. . . .pretty much stuck with it.

Which was my whole point. If the person in question home is worth a substantial amount there is no deprivation as it can be sold to pay for care, there are actually various options regarding when this has to be done. The poster who was discussing their relative here has said you must have cash to pay for care in your own home but that’s actually not true. According to the NHS website anyway. There is no deprivation of someone had a very large asset.

I'm assuming it's all in Cash ISAs earning circa 4.5% interest pm as a minimum, so that's another £300 per month income you are getting at least.

Yes, they're both subject to a financial assessment but the rules are different. Property doesn't come into the equation when it's domicilliary care - care at home.
And does not swallow all of your income, whatever it's source. It's means tested.
If you need LA funded residential care, property is included. And that source will be used until it's exhausted.
This is a wrong National Social Care could right, but only if enough of us agree.
But, tbh, there's so much anger and discord in the Country, I can't see it happening.

Sadly I think deferred payments only work in residential care scenarios not care at home.
So payment for care at home that relies on LA funding wouldn't be allowed to take into account the value of a property.

Yes, I'm aware home care doesn't take in to consideration property if the person is living in it, however deprivation of assets still counts, and this £80k she's given away could be considered that - and the £80k is the focus of the thread, not nuances in adult social care.

This is true.

Are you still in this kind of role or did you leave? If so, where did you go?